The defenseman entered the offensive zone on a 2-on-1 break but
elected to keep the puck and snapped a wrist shot over the glove
of Colorado goaltender Peter Budaj for his fifth goal of the
season.

Anaheim, which enjoyed a 38-12 advantage in shots, snapped a
three-game home losing streak with the victory.

"Chris Kunitz and I skated up the ice," Schneider said of his
game-winner. "We had a lot of time. I stayed in my lane. I
knew the way the ice was that I was going to shoot it; I got it
just under the bar near the post."

The Avs goalie thought he had a good angle on Schneider on the
goal.

"Maybe, I was cheating a little bit to the right side," Budaj
said. "Maybe I was open on my glove side. I totally thought I
had a good angle, and that's why I didn't even go down. It went
in, so it must have been a good shot."

Budaj was brilliant in net for the Avs, stopping 36 of the 38
shots he faced. Over his last four outings, during which he has
posted a 3-0-1 mark, the Slovakian has turned aside 116-of-122
shots for a .951 save percentage and a 1.23 goals-against
average.

"I thought he played terrific in that first period," Colorado
said coach Joel Quenneville of Budaj. "Peter had that first
period that gave us a chance and kept us in the game. We worked
hard and the guys battled but Peter was outstanding tonight."

Cody McCormick opened the scoring 8:33 into the second period.

Ian Laperriere threaded a pass to McCormick cutting alone
through the slot on the left side. McCormick deked Anaheim
goaltender Jonas Hiller to the ice and lifted a wrist shot over
Hiller's right shoulder for his first goal of the season.

Anaheim's Doug Weight, acquired last Friday in a trade for Andy
McDonald, tried to get the Ducks on the board first, but was
denied by a brilliant save by Budaj from five feet out in the
opening period.

"Budaj played great; you've got to give him credit," Weight
said.

Chris Pronger evened the contest at 1-1 just 3:45 into the third
period.

The defenseman corralled the rebound of a shot by Ryan Carter
and deposited it between Budaj's legs for his sixth goal of the
season.

Carter, who was recalled from Portland of the American Hockey
League on Monday, was credited with an assist for his first
point of his NHL career.

"We've been talking about it for the last little while of
getting into the play and trying to close the gap," Pronger
said. "I saw a little opportunity to go through to the net.
Carter made a great shot. The goalie kicked the rebound out and
I was fortunate. I think it went through his legs."

"Those are big-league plays by (an) elite-level defenseman,"
Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said. "I think front and center for
us was the work ethic that we were able to display off a
back-to-back (pair of games)."

Rob Niedermayer nearly gave the Ducks the lead midway through
the third period.

The center found himself on the doorstep, faked Budaj to the ice
but lifted the puck over the net to keep the game deadlocked at
1-1.

Hiller stopped 11 of the 12 shots he faced for his second
victory of the season.

"It's difficult to stay sharp when there aren't a lot of shots,"
Hiller said. "You've got to concentrate and try to stay
focused."

With the return of Conn Smythe Trophy winning defenseman Scott
Niedermayer and the acquisition of Weight, there seems to be a
renewed air of confidence in the Ducks' locker room.

"The way we played tonight was a pretty outstanding effort,
especially playing on back-to-back nights and three games in
four nights," Schneider said. "That should have been a four- or
five-goal game easily. We generated a lot of chances tonight.
If we do that consistently, we're going to win a lot of games.

"We have to build off these last couple of efforts. You can
feel the tide turning in the dressing room. When Weight and
Scotty came in the room, I think there's just a different
feeling. You can sense that some of the guys have their swagger
back a little bit. That little cockiness is important to have
on a winning club."

Colorado captain Joe Sakic missed his 10th consecutive game with
a groin injury. Ryan Smyth joined Sakic on the sidelines with
a neck injury he suffered Monday in Los Angeles.